The Extinct Human Species Discovered Deep Within A Cave System

04/25/22 • 22 min

1 Listener

Deep in the Rising Star Cave system lies a mystery of paleoanthropology: a chamber filled with the bones of Homo naledi. How this species evolved, how it’s related to us and other human relatives, and how it got so deep in the caves are among the many open questions researchers are trying to answer, and what they’re starting to uncover might mean changing our minds about what behaviors we think of as uniquely human.

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.

Previous Episode

What Was The First Dinosaur?

1 Recommendations

Exactly where and when dinosaurs first evolved are still open questions in paleontology; it’s hard to even say what the first dinosaur was. In this episode, we dig into the evidence for dinosaur origins in the Triassic Period (between 252 and 201 million years ago) and try to understand the world they lived in. Being able to point to the first dinosaur might tell us something about how the biggest mass extinction of all time influenced the course of life on our planet.

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.

Next Episode

The Strange Graveyard At The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

1 Recommendations

There's something strange about the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. The fossils found there date back to the Late Jurassic Period and one species accounts for roughly two-thirds of all the bones: Allosaurus fragilis. But what killed all these big predators? Was the site itself a deadly trap, like the La Brea Tar Pits? Or was it a poisoned spring? Or was it simply a watering hole? This episode will dig into the mystery of this dinosaur graveyard.

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.
© 2022 PBS. All rights reserved.